Edit the description to add:

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

Andre 3000 is awesome on Benz Friendz. His deadpan delivery is razor sharp. His layered, multi-dimensional approach to songwriting is indelible. You can almost feel his inquisitive fingers pushing each hook farther into the stratosphere.

Of course, Three-Stacks is awesome on everything. But in the case of Benz Friendz, Future won’t completely hand over the keys. That is what makes the cut so special. Every time one pop-maestro raises the stakes, the other calls, then raises again. The verse-chorus structure eventually spins out, spiraling into four completely unique hooks, each seemingly good enough to be it’s own song. It’s glorious, meticulous, and almost didn’t happen. In fact, they added it post-mix. Future said in an interview with NPR:

We kept saying, “Man, it’s missing something. We gotta add those different textures over the track.” He kept telling me like, “Man, you always want to keep going back over it over and over and over and see something you can hear. Every time you listen to the track, once they mix it, you might hear something else you want to put on the track. You can’t be afraid to do it again just because you mixed the record. I know they spending they money on the mix but, man, you gotta do what’s in your heart to make the track complete.” So after we mixed it a few times, man, we went back over, did the third verse, did the intro and we built. Went in like, we built on that track for a few weeks.

This track is also a bit of a family affair. Rico Wade, part of the seminal production group Organized Noise—responsible for much of Outkast’s classic material (and this track)—is also Future’s cousin. This might explain why it differs sonically, compared to the rest of the album. Even future said:

It sound like a Future/OutKast record.

Well, whatever it takes. So long as this is the result, we can only hope for more.